Do you have “a date"? When do you think it is right to have a family introduction?

Going out on “dates” with the same person may or may not result in a lasting friendship.

Friendship has a very broad definition. People are engaged in different types of friendship, be it with childhood sweethearts or people met in the college, university or at work. 

For the purpose of this write-up, I will exclude childhood sweethearts. Let us concentrate on friendships that start as “dates” at different stages in life. People always ask: how long does it take before one can feel comfortable introducing such a friend to one's family members? The decision on when to make this bold move is very dicey and challenging. In some places, culture also plays a very important role. 

Some people say that it's good to have an introduction immediately after hooking up while others say that it is good to observe how things unfold first before introduction. Both arguments are backed with different reasons and circumstances. 

The first group of people argue that making an introduction at the early stages of a friendship will help them know their friend’s family members in order to study their characters; the family members in turn will know them. So they will feel either accepted or rejected from the onset. They say that leaving it too late for an introduction indicates that they are not interested in any serious relationship. 

The other group argue that it is better to wait in order to know if the friendship will work out on the long run before making any introduction. They say that it will give time for both parties to study each other and check compatibility. Their question is: what if they become good friends with the family members, make future plans together and the friendship fails?

One of my acquaintances supports this opinion; he is strongly against any early introduction. He will say that it is always better to wait long enough before involving the family. I do not blame him though; his advice is based on his bitter experience. When he started going out with his former girlfriend, he introduced her to his family as soon as they met. His family members were all over her, even encouraged them to do things together. During that time, one of his relatives was planning his wedding. Of course they were invited. The relative was living in a different country so they had to book a flight and make hotel and other relevant reservations together. Unfortunately for him, this relationship became shaky, things did not work out as expected and they broke up before the wedding day. 

If it were you, what would you do?